Leslie 'Lulu' Van Houten, Hannah Murray, anchors a sprawling, patient portrayal of a young woman drawn into the Manson Family and then pulled into a difficult confrontation with reality through Karlene Faith, Merritt Wever — a UC Santa Cruz graduate student who takes on the task of deprogramming Lulu along with two other former followers, Patricia "Katie" Krenwinkel, Sosie Bacon, and Susan "Sadie" Atkins, Marianne Rendón. The narrative unfolds in a careful, non-chronological weave, switching between Lulu’s life inside the cult and the long arc of her attempt to reclaim autonomy from a system that shaped her beliefs long before she ever questioned them. The film stays true to the people involved and the consequences of their actions, presenting a nuanced look at manipulation, loyalty, and the cost of belonging to a movement built on charisma and control.
The story begins with Lulu, in the aftermath of violence, enduring the shock of her surroundings as she cleans blood from her face after the LaBianca murders. Three years pass, and Lulu, Katie, and Sadie find themselves in the Special Security Unit at the California Institution for Women, where Karlene Faith is assigned to teach them college courses. Lulu, Katie, and Sadie present a surprising combination of gentleness and politeness that catches Karlene off guard, challenging the stereotype of the “typical” murderous subject. As Karlene gets to know them, she begins to unravel how deeply Charlie, Matt Smith—Charles Manson in the public imagination—still codes their worldview and how their devotion to him has shaped their identities. The group’s warmth toward one another contrasts sharply with the brutal acts they would later perform, and it becomes clear that their acceptance of Charlie’s doctrine runs deeper than mere loyalty.
The film frequently flashes back to Lulu’s first exposure to the Family and to Charlie at Spahn Ranch. Catherine "Gypsy" Share guides Lulu into the circle, and Katie soon steps in as Lulu’s mentor, guiding her through the group’s beliefs. The film sketches a world where the refrain of letting go of ego, embracing the present, and pursuing a kind of communal freedom becomes a daily ritual. Drugs, sex, and a strict social code blur any sense of ordinary life. In one pivotal moment, Charlie is shown dismantling another member’s sense of self in front of the group, then reconstructing it with a communal affirmation that binds the people even more tightly to the leader’s vision. Lulu’s awe is palpable, and she confesses to Karlene that every girl should have a father figure like Charlie, a line that underscores the perverse logic at work. Karlene responds with suggested readings like Our Bodies, Ourselves and Sisterhood is Powerful, highlighting the genuine efforts to spark independent thought, even as she remains skeptical of the group’s ability to break free from Charlie’shold.
As the narrative moves forward, the Members are subjected to harsh, escalating rules: sometimes they scavenge for food in dumpsters; at other times, Charlie orchestrates group sex as part of their ritual. He dictates that women cannot hold money and must defer to the men at the table for meals, and he rationalizes harsh treatment as a method to shed materialistic attachments and ego. Lulu’s trust wavers when she witnesses Charlie’s callous disregard for a crying member, yet she is drawn back by his explanations of submission and rebirth through suffering. One stark scene takes Lulu to the edge when Charlie announces that leaving the ranch would require her to jump from a cliff, a moment that crystallizes the manipulation at the heart of their power structure. The cult’s apocalyptic fantasies, including Charlie’s belief in a coming race war dubbed "Helter Skelter," sharpen the tension between idealism and the brutal reality of the actions they would someday commit.
In a series of flashbacks, the film traces Dennis Wilson’s interactions with Charlie, the shift from music to violence, and Charlie’s growing conviction that his group will influence or precipitate history. The moment pivots on Charlie’s decision to direct his followers toward a violent reckoning: Sadie and Tex Watson are sent to the home of Terry Melcher, and later Lulu and Linda Kasabian join in what becomes the infamous Tate murders, with Sharon Tate present in a pregnant state. The group’s sense of invisibility, sharpened by their belief in Charlie’s authority, fuels the fear and justification they feel in these acts. The portrayal of Tex Watson’s calm resolve in line with Charlie’s teaching underscores the dangerous blend of charisma and coercion that dominates the equation.
Karlene Faith’s mission intensifies as she tries to separate Lulu, Katie, and Sadie from Charlie’s hold and help them reclaim their own identities. Yet the girls’ sense of self is deeply entangled with the narratives Charlie has instantiated, and the line between autonomy and indoctrination remains disturbingly blurred. Karlene recognizes, with mounting sadness, that the murders were both irrevocable and ethically wrong, and she fears the consequences of any attempted return to a pre-Charlie self. The film emphasizes that even when Lulu, Katie, and Sadie reclaim fragments of their former selves, they are compelled to live with the consequences of the violence they helped enable—the act that began as a search for belonging ends up etched into their lives forever.
In the final act, the film crystallizes the central tension: the belief in a revolutionary transformation clashes with the stark, brutal reality of the crimes. Lulu’s inner arc moves toward a painful realization that the murders did not precipitate a meaningful upheaval, but instead ended in tragedy and irreparable harm. The closing moments carry a sober, bittersweet tone as Lulu confronts the brutal truth of what happened and the impossibility of turning back the clock.
The cast’s performances ground this historical drama in a quiet realism that avoids sensationalism, instead offering a measured meditation on influence, choice, and accountability. The film does not excuse the acts or their perpetrators, but it does illuminate the human dimensions of coercion, complicity, and the fraught effort to recover one’s own voice after being taught to think, feel, and act as part of a collective. Through Lulu’s journey and Karlene’s insistence on critical thinking, the story probes the enduring question of how individuals can break away from toxic systems and reclaim agency, even when the past continues to cast a long shadow.
> like making love to her daddy
Karlene Faith, Merritt Wever, remains a guiding force as the narrative threads toward its somber conclusion, reminding audiences that deprogramming is a demanding, ongoing process—one that requires patience, empathy, and a steadfast insistence on the value of individual memory. The film’s final images linger on Lulu’s quiet, unresolved sense of what might have been, leaving viewers with the impression that the struggle for personal autonomy, while possible, often unfolds in the face of enduring consequences.
